


The Night Before Fic-mas

by bottledspirits



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Rumbelle Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-20
Updated: 2014-12-20
Packaged: 2018-03-02 12:46:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2812478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bottledspirits/pseuds/bottledspirits
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An assortment of mini fics for your perusal. Enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [delintthedarkone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/delintthedarkone/gifts).



> These were posted on tumblr as Extra Special Prezzies for delintthedarkone. I'm posting them here for posterity. Ho ho ho, dearies!

"Mistah Gawold," Belle drawled, wobbling slightly, which was rather impressive, given that she was sitting in bed.

"Drink," Gold ordered, holding out the spoon. It was full of dark purple liquid and promised the delights of artificial grape.

Belle sniffed. Her nose was red and stuffy. She could not smell the treacherous grape.

Her eyes rose to her true love fair. His tie was loose and his sleeves pinned back in the garters he sometimes wore. 

"I could kees you," Belle chimed, rising on all fours to get to him. 

Gold quickly pulled the spoon away and stepped out of reach. He was too late. Belle’s fingers grasped his tie and reeled him onto the bed.

He sighed. This was the third time this morning.


	2. Chapter 2

Gold sputtered. Chunks of ice slipped out of his hair and clattered to the ground at his feet. From around the corner came the sound of giggling and hurried little footfalls.

"B-belle?" he stammered, chilled to the bone. 

His true love was peering around the corner, perched atop those precariously high heels she so favored as she tried to discern the whereabouts of the pranksters.

"It’s December!" she cried, aghast. "They ought to know better!"

He made an inarticulate sound between a whimper and a groan. Some of the ice had slipped down his shirt. Belle turned at the sound and exclaimed when she saw his expression.

"Poor Rumple," she cooed, cupping his face against the cold.

"T-toads," he mumbled.

"Yes, that wasn’t very…" she broke off and leveled a look at him. "Rumple."

He said nothing.

"If I turn that corner and find a street full of toads, I had better not, understand?"

"…yes, dear."

"Good. Now, let’s get you warmed up, shall we?" She delivered this statement with a certain tug on his arm that left no doubt as to how she planned to proceed. He could feel himself warming up around the ears already.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been casual at first. They were in the library, discussing no great matter of import with Henry and his grandparents when Gold made an off-color quip and Belle chided him with a smack on the arm.

She didn’t hit hard, nor could he believe she really meant to chastise him, judging from the curve of her lips. If anything, it had his interest piqued for what she planned to do with him later.

But the looks the others gave them were unmistakable. Charming especially took several moments to process the exchange between flickering back into his usual practiced ease.

The consequences became clear a short while later. Gold had been standing next to the man for whatever reason, listening to some half-baked story about a dragon and a sword of gold - yes, he knows, dearie, he was the one who set the whole thing up - when Charming chose to punctuate the ending with a slap to the elbow and an ill-timed, “But you’d know all about that, eh, Gold?”

Gold froze like a soaked cat, glancing up with eyes just as wide. 

But the real shock came when Belle, a moment ago engrossed in some unseen activity behind the counter, rose up like an avenging goddess and stared the insolent shepherd down with all the might she could conjure through her stilettos, which was considerable.

The message was clear. Dark One. Mine. No touching.

Charming’s hand retracted back to his side. Gold preened.


	4. Chapter 4

"I bet I could," Belle said, smirking.

"Sweetheart, you don’t have to prove anything to me," Gold said.

Her eyebrows shot up and she sat back in her chair. If she was interested before, she was dead set on it now.

"So you don’t believe I could?" Belle asked. That was obviously a trick question.

"Now darling, I never said that…"

"Watch," Belle commanded, pointing to the glittering chain on his torso. Gold sighed and obediently pulled out the article. Belle raised her glass and barked, "Time."

He noted the time just as she began to drink. She made quite a show of it, too. It was one of the dwarves’ mugs, apparently pilfered from the shop, and it had become her favorite of late. Given its size, it was rather impressive that she…

"Belle, are you sure…" Gold’s eyes widened when he saw how much of the glass was empty already. She held up a finger to silence him without so much as stopping. He watched the swell of her throat and felt himself swallow in kind.

The glass was almost empty. Gold began to feel a tug of excitement. 

"Drink," he said, quiet at first, but as she neared the bottom of the glass he was grinning, chanting the word over and over and pounding out a beat on the table.

She swallowed the last drop with a flourish among Gold’s hoarse chant of “Drink, drink, drink!” and slammed the mug onto the table, grinning. He thought his face might tear from how hard he smiled back.

"Come here, lover boy," she said, pulling him by the lapels for a kiss that tasted of bitter hops and sweet cherry. It was not a bad way to spend an evening.


	5. Chapter 5

It would be so easy. She was right there, unsuspecting. She’d never see it coming.

Gold leaned forward, water sloshing around him, and bestowed a pile of fluffy bubbles onto his true love’s hair where she’d pinned it in a nest of curls atop her head.

There was an answering splash as she whirled on him, eyes widening. 

"What did you…" she began, touching her fingers to her hair. He didn’t bother suppressing his smile. 

Belle wrinkled her nose in confusion as she patted her hair. Gold snorted when she brought her hand down on the bubbles, sending them flying into the air around them.

"Why, you…!" she cried, but it was lost in a burst of laughter. She gathered a handful of bubbles from the bath between them and held them up ominously. Her eyes sparkled as she threatened, "So that’s how you want it?"

Gold said nothing, resolute in his victory. He was downright smug.

Belle leaned forward and pressed the hoard to his face, smushing them into a beard. She chortled at the alarmed look on his face.

"I ought to-" Gold broke off, puffing the bubbles away from his mouth. 

She snorted, but before he could attempt to speak again, she had wrapped her arms around his neck and pillowed herself against his chest. The water sloshed gently around them. He was content to sit there as long as she liked, even if the water turned to ice. She radiated heat onto his front like a kitten curled up by the fire.

Gold bent his head and pressed a kiss to her hair. He left a ring of bubbles in his wake. Belle snickered against his chest and curled up tighter against him.


End file.
